Virat Kohli has found a semblance of form, scoring 35, 59 not out and 60, at an overall strike rate of 126.22, in the Asia Cup so far. On Sunday, having top scored for India against Pakistan, Kohli decided to open up on dealing with the pressures of the last six-odd months and the criticisms that have come his way following a tumultuous period in his career.
Kohli decided to step down from the T20I captaincy after last year’s World Cup. He then lost his ODI captaincy, something he hadn’t expected. Then came his shock decision to quit Test captaincy after the series loss in South Africa earlier this year. Kohli said that Mahendra Singh Dhoni aside, no one actually made the effort to reach out to him when he was going through a low phase.
“Let me tell you one thing... when I left Test captaincy, I got a message from only one person, with whom I had played previously, that was MS Dhoni,” Kohli said during a media conference in Dubai on Sunday. “Many people have my number. On TV, people give lots of suggestions... But none of the people who had my number sent me a message.
“That respect, that connection you have with someone, when it is genuine, it shows like this, because there is no insecurity with either of us. Neither does he (Dhoni) need anything from me, nor do I need anything from him. Neither of us suffers from insecurity. I can only say: if I want to say something to someone, I reach out to that person individually if I want to help.
“I mean, if you give the suggestions in front of the world, it has no value for me. If it is for my improvement, you can talk to me one-onone... that I genuinely want you to do well. I live life with a lot of honesty, so I can see through such things.
“I’ve played for 14 years, it doesn’t happen by chance. My job is to work hard on my game, something that I am always keen to do for the team and something that I continue to do. Everyone’s doing their job eventually, our job is to play the game, work hard, give our 120 per cent and I’ve said it in the past that as long as I am doing that and the team has faith in that, what happens in the change room is the only thing that matters to us, and to me personally,” he said.
“People have their opinions and that’s absolutely fine but that doesn’t change my happiness... I’ve taken sometime away, put things in perspective. It’s given me kind ofa relaxation that this is not the be-all and end-all of life. I need to enjoy the game, I can’t put so much pressure of expectation on myself...” Kohli admitted he was able to ‘find that excitement back ’on his return to the team.
“I was able to find that excitement back. And when I came here, the environment was very welcoming, the camaraderie with the boys is amazing... I am feeling good with the way I am batting.”
